Chapter 31: Water

November 2, 1943

It was cold the next morning, which was almost a welcome change from the stale, hot air that they'd been living in for the past four weeks. It was certainly welcome for their skin, which was unexpectedly red and tight in some places where they'd gotten too close to the fire. Bucky was surprised to find himself awake before Lu, and even more surprised to find her curled up in a ball right next to him, her back against his torso and her head on his arm. Her fingers lightly rested on his palm, which he only knew because he leaned up to see if she was awake - his arm was numb from her sleeping on it for who knows how long. He couldn't find it in himself to mind.

He took a quick glance around the makeshift camp. The light was just barely starting, the black tree trunks and gray ground finding their colors again as the night retreated. Most of the men were still asleep and Steve was nowhere in sight. He knew that was something that he needed to address momentarily, but this may be the only chance he got to show any affection without the entire unit seeing them and making Lu uncomfortable. She'd been frugal with her affections before their confessions the night before, and if he was honest he wasn't sure how liberal she'd be with them afterwards. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure that the night before hadn't just been a fever dream.

He shifted a little closer, putting his arm around Lu's waist and pulling her to his chest. She startled and stiffened at first, but before he could let go she put her hand on his and kept him there, squeezing back as much as she could. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, just enough that she could feel it through her shirt. In response, she pressed her lips to his arm, feather light on his disgusting sleeve.

"You know," she said quietly, still facing away from him. He wondered if she didn't want to look him in the eyes. "we won't be able to wake up like this once we get back."

"We were prisoners of war. We burned down a Nazi bunker. Who's allowed to tell us what to do?" he murmured into her tangled hair. She gave a dry laugh that turned into a cough, the sound so worrying that he didn't even realize she was clutching his hand to her chest as she tried to hold herself together. "You good?"

"That hurt." she replied with a sigh, her body going limp as if all her energy was spent from that one cough. He felt pain in his chest at her statement, though it had nothing to do with smoke damage. They'd gotten out of the bunker, and somehow it seemed unfair that she still had to be in pain. He held her for a moment longer before she gently wriggled from his grasp, and despite wanting to maintain the closeness, he gave her space.

"Where are we going?" he asked, purposefully saying we instead of you. He was not going to let her out of his sight if he could help it. He moved too quickly to match her sitting position, his head swimming with the sudden change. She finally looked at him and self consciously ran a hand through her hair, but at the first snare of tangles, she gave up trying to tame it.

"I need to find Morita." she said, taking a breath so deep he could hear some of the joints in her ribs pop. He raised an eyebrow.

"I confess my undying love to you last night, and the first thing you want to do this morning is find another man?" he asked, pretending that he was joking instead of feeling marked jealousy and insecurity. She sent a wry smile over her shoulder, and while she thought about making a snide comment in return, she decided to try and be decent for once.

"You've got me, Barnes. Don't question it." she said, the most affectionate thing she could come up with. It still made her uncomfortable to share her feelings, even with someone as trustworthy as Bucky. He gave her a smile, reaching out to squeeze her hand one more time before following her lead and getting up.

"Love you too, Doc." he said quietly. He wasn't ashamed of his feelings, but after spending literally every moment surrounded by the unit, he wanted to keep this thing between them a little private, a little secret. Sure, maybe Steve knew, but he didn't count.

Lu gave him a rare genuine smile, her sharp features softening as she gazed at him for a second longer before starting to move, going to check the nearby soldiers and make sure they were medically sound enough for travel. Steve wandered back then, coming to stand next to Bucky. He looked up at the man that he used to know - and that he used to look down to.

"Yea, this is even weirder in the light of day." he said, making Steve laugh.

"You'll get used to it, I promise." he said with a smirk, knocking him with his shoulder. Bucky found he rebounded a little more than when he gave the gesture as a kid. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.

"So this isn't a pumpkin at midnight situation?" he asked. He knew he'd questioned the permanence of Steve's state the night before, but between the injection and the adrenaline, the memories were a little hazy. Steve gave him a grin that was entirely too satisfied.

"Not yet. Before it goes, I want a rematch from that day in the gym." he said. Bucky snorted, remembering the hot summer day where Steve had been determined to learn boxing, suiting up and getting in the ring with Bucky. All it had taken was a light hit to the chest to put him down, but Bucky had soothed the embarrassment by apologizing with an ice cream float afterwards.

"I just spent God knows how long as a prisoner of war, Rogers." he said dryly, unable to hide the mischief in his eyes. "Maybe you can keep up now."

Steve grinned, shaking his head. "Same old punk." he muttered under his breath, turning his eyes to the troops in front of him. They were getting up slowly, and in the morning light they could see how their uniforms hung loosely on them, and how their bones seemed more prominent than they should be. Every single one of them had a layer of panic behind their eyes, the degree of it the only thing differentiating their gazes. These men had been through hell - and they were the ones to live. He didn't want to think about the ones that hadn't made it, the ones that he'd been too slow to save. "We've got a long trek ahead of us. And our supplies are limited." he said instead, looking back to Bucky. Bucky stood up a little taller, tugging at the waistband of his pants so that it hung a little higher, though they slid down almost immediately. He'd have to put another hole in his belt before they left.

"Then we better get a move on. We...these guys need help. Medical attention probably." he said. Across the meager camp, Lu was waging the same battle with her pants, trying to get them to stay in place as she crouched to check on the soldiers. He would fix her belt first, then his own. He wondered if she looked as pale to the rest of them as she did to him, or if he was just more attuned because of his feelings.

Steve nodded, clapping a hand to Bucky's shoulder. "You'll be my second in command, right? No use being a captain if I don't have a sergeant." Bucky glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't like the attitude this science experiment gave you." he said, bending down to pick up the rifle and sling the strap across his chest, his hands ready to bring the sight to his eye at a moment's notice. He moved away, offering a hand to the nearest soldier and helping him to his feet.

"That wasn't a 'no'!" Steve called after him, relishing in having his friend back before following his lead.

Clouds and smoke laced the sky, making the light just dim enough for it to feel eerie as they started walking south. Gusts of wind brought unidentifiable smells from the direction of the destroyed bunker, making each man clench his teeth and take quick looks back to make sure the Nazis weren't chasing them, ready to swallow them back into the dungeon. Their progress was slow but steady, their boots crunching on sticks and dead leaves with an almost jazz-like rhythm. Steve led the way, but Bucky was right next to him, with Lu at his shoulder. There had been light conversation at first, but as the miles started to pile up they got quiet, focusing their energy on the road ahead. Steve of course felt fine, but Bucky and Lu had to concentrate on each step, using every ounce of brain power to stay upright.

The clouds hid the sun from their eyes, but Steve's pocket watch told them it was just past two somewhere in the world (he'd forgotten what time zone he'd adjusted it to last), meaning they'd been walking for at least six hours. Morita jogged to the front then, his expression worried and his breath a little shorter than it should have been for such a short distance.

"We taking a break soon?" he asked, trying to hide the heaving of his chest as he tried to catch up on oxygen. He jerked his head back behind them, towards the group of soldiers. "We're starting to get some stragglers, even with the tanks."

Steve stopped, the rest of the men coming to a halt in a wave. They could hear the questions as they passed from the back to the front and then back again as the men tried to figure out what was going on, but Steve didn't address them. He seemed to be listening, his head inclined towards the trees. He was still using his "good ear," but Bucky had a feeling it was more out of habit than ability. Bucky lifted his head too, tilting it so that it matched Steve's direction; if he ignored the murmurs from the men, then he could barely hear the rush of something between the trees.

"Water's that way." Steve said, taking off that direction. Bucky followed him, furrowing his brows. The men moved like a herd of cattle behind them, the message getting relayed all the way to the back of the group. The water sounded louder the closer they got to it, but Bucky had the feeling that most of the men still couldn't sense it. Just him and Steve.

"You could hear it too?" Lu asked quietly. Though she was still pale, her steps were sure in the direction of the river. So three of them heard it.

"Yea. Or maybe it was just my imagination." he said with a shrug. There shouldn't have been a reason for him to be able to hear it like Steve. At least, he didn't want to think about there being a reason.

"Guess we share an imagination then." she said, making him glance over to her. He was surprised to find her looking at him, green eyes piercing. His mouth went dry, both at how she was looking at him and at what she was implying.

"What the fuck did they do to us, Doc?" he whispered. Her lips parted as she took in a sharp breath, the air getting caught in her chest and making her cough again. This time it wasn't as violent, as if her lungs were healing already.

"I don't know Barnes." she said once the spell passed. "And I'm not sure I want to."

He sighed, turning his attention to the terrain as the river finally came into view. It was small, but it was flowing, and it carried the water they would need to last the trip. Sure, they were malnourished and in desperate need of a few good meals, but without water they would definitely die. After all they went through, Bucky refused to die from dehydration.

"We need to purify it." Lu pointed out, though she seemed relieved to have found a water source.

"I'll go see if the tanks have anything." Steve said as men started to gather. A few moved quickly to the riverbank, getting on their knees and cupping their hands to drink. Morita and Lu yelled to them to stop, to wait, but the thirstier men couldn't be dissuaded. Lu took a few quick breaths, trying to gather the energy to help, but Bucky stopped her with a hand on the small of her back.

"Take a load off, Doc. I got it." he said, even if he just wanted to sit down and not get up for at least a week. Her expression sharpened, back to the face she used when working in the field hospital.

"I'm fine, Barnes." she said, as if he couldn't see her swaying slightly as she stayed standing, or feel her lean into his touch with a slight loss of balance.

"I know you are. But we're gonna need you sooner or later, so you should save up for that." he said. They shared a long look before Lu relented, taking his hand and slowly lowering herself to the ground. Morita, being a medic and having a pledge to "do no harm," tried to convince the soldiers to stop drinking with strong words and gentle tugs. Bucky had made no such oath, and was content to grab them by the backs of their shirts and use his bodyweight to throw them away from the water. They protested at first, of course, but then they realized who they were talking to, and begrudgingly followed orders. Bucky still didn't consider himself a real sergeant, but he was happy to have the stripes for moments like this.

Dugan and Steve came back, each holding a large half-sphere that could double as a bowl and a gun stand that could double as a stove. It looked suspiciously like a cover of some sort, but beggars couldn't exactly be choosers. Gabe and Falsworth immediately moved to start making fires, and the action of the plan made the last few soldiers at the water's edge stop and step away. A few of them looked nervous now that they were back in their right mind, remembering all the facts about germs and cholera that the Army had thrown at them during training. A few of them wandered into the trees, making themselves vomit the water up in hopes of avoiding disease. Bucky just hoped it would be good enough; they'd lost enough people, he didn't want to lose any more.

An hour later they had clean enough drinking water, the cool air helping the temperature drop from boiling to manageable. Bucky hadn't realized how thirsty he was until the water touched his lips, and despite the odd taste and the questionable tin cup, he gulped it down as if it was the sweetest ambrosia of the gods. The second cup went too fast, causing him to choke and heave and nearly lose what he'd just ingested. Lu thumped him on the back to clear his airway, her hand sharp on the bones of his spine and ribs. Of course, he got to return the favor a few moments later, though he tried to make his smacks a little gentler.

They spent another hour filling any available container in the tanks with boiled water, glad to have the machines to carry it so they didn't have to. And, if they were able to bring enough water with them, they wouldn't have to waste time sanitizing it again. Bucky could tell Steve was getting antsy to keep moving, but it only took one look at the ragged men around him to extinguish his impatience. Once they'd had their fill and the men were as rested as they were going to be, they continued on.

It was nothing but gumption that kept them going through the afternoon, the clouds eventually burning away to reveal a cold winter sun. As long as the wind wasn't blowing they could manage the temperatures, but once the sun started its descent the temperature followed, their breaths rising in puffs into the bruise colored sky. Lu's breathing was definitely labored, and his own legs felt like they were filled with lead. It was then Bucky noticed the expression on Steve's face, and realized that he was planning to go through the night.

"We gotta stop, Steve." he said, putting his hand on his arm. Steve startled, looking around as if he didn't realize how much time had passed. The men behind them stumbled as they walked, their steps uneven and their faces long with exhaustion. Steve looked at each of them in turn, as if memorizing each of them.

"Right, yea, you're right." he said. He looked like he hadn't felt the walk at all. "Let's set up camp. We'll be up again at first light."

"I'll take watch." Bucky said, adjusting cold fingers on his rifle. Steve waved him off.

"You need to rest. I'll take it." he said.

"You didn't sleep last night."

"I also wasn't held in a bunker for a month."

"Listen I don't care what they gave you, you still need sleep-"

"I told you I'm fine-"

"You're still human-"

"I said I'm fine, Buck!" Steve exclaimed, letting out the frustration of being debilitated for his entire life. Bucky was surprised at the outburst; Steve definitely called him out on his bullshit, but they rarely raised their voices at each other. Steve's eyes were bright in the moonlight, but Bucky could see the tell-tale signs of his fatigue. Even though his body was perfectly engineered now, he still shifted away from his bad hip out of habit, his shoulders slumping slightly to shy away from the pain spinal stenosis used to give him.

"You got us out, Steve." Lu said quietly, the feminine voice of reason breaking the harsh stares between them. "We can hold it together for a couple hours while you take a break."

Steve had never been good at saying no to Bucky, and he was even worse at saying no to women. He looked between the two of them, trying to decide if it was worth it to fight back. In the end he decided against it. "Alright. But the minute you get tired, you wake me." he said, using an authoritarian voice Bucky had never heard before. It made him roll his eyes.

"Aye, aye, Captain." he said with a mock salute. Steve bristled but didn't comment, instead walking away to oversee the others making camp. Lu slid her hand into the nook of Bucky's elbow, her touch gentle in a way he rarely got to experience.

"You okay?" she asked. She knew how much Steve meant to Bucky, but there would definitely be a shift in their relationship now, something they would have to adjust to. Bucky nodded and sighed in a way that would make his passive aggressive grandmother proud.

"Yea, yea it's fine. He wasn't good at knowing his limitations back when he had a whole laundry list of problems. Now that he doesn't have that excuse, he'll be even worse." he said, shaking his head. He pulled her closer to him, laying a kiss to the top of her head before putting a respectable space between them again. "You don't have to stay up with me. I'll be okay."

"I know you will be. But I still want to." she said with a shrug. It occurred to him that this might be her way of saying she wanted to spend time with him, even if she couldn't verbalize it exactly. She looked up at him again and pinched his arm, reminding him of the subtle show of fondness. He nodded again.

"Then it's you and me against the world." he said with as flirty a grin he could manage. It was a terrible line but she blushed anyway, neither used to this sort of attention nor her desire for it.

"You and me, Barnes." she said, trying to return the smile. It only made his grow.

"That's my last name. You want it?" he said. She assumed he was just harkening back to their meeting in the med tent, back when he was delirious with fever. She pouted and pinched his arm again, this time hard enough to make him jump and pull back, allowing her to walk away towards an outcropping of rocks that would make for a good lookout point. He let out a long breath as he watched her go, murmuring to himself, "I was serious."

"You look like a lovesick puppy." Steve snuck back up on him, making him jump again.

"Jesus fucking Christ, don't ever do that again." Bucky said, landing a half-hearted punch on the other man's shoulder. The way he was grinning said that their short quarrel was forgiven, just like any one they'd had before. And just like the others, it was immediately forgotten. "God as my witness I'll haunt the shit out of you if I survived a Nazi bunker just to die from a heart attack."

"Hydra." Steve said. The answer didn't make sense, and Bucky made sure his facial expression told him as such. "They weren't just Nazis. They're a rogue science division, calling themselves Hydra."

"Of fucking course they do." he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "How bad is it?"

"Not sure yet. I'm hoping Agent Carter will have some more information by the time we get back." he said. "But they're something we need to take care of. And the Allies can't spread their resources that thin."

That seemed an odd statement to make. "So they're not a priority from the Army?" he asked.

"They are. And they aren't." Steve said, letting out a frustrated breath. "I've been talking with Agent Carter some, and I think...well, I figure the other boys can handle the Nazis. But it takes a weird science experiment to beat another weird science experiment."

"So now you want to go rogue. To take them down." Bucky deadpanned. He wasn't even surprised. Of course the moment Steve got super powers, he'd want to go take on every bully in a continent-sized radius. Steve laughed, but it wasn't entirely humorous.

"If they let me." he finally admitted. "So far I've just been helping raise money for the cause. This is, uh, my first actual mission."

Bucky blinked at him a few times, trying to decide if he actually heard what he thought he did. "You're incorrigible." he said, shaking his head. "Go lay down and think about what you've done. Me and Doc got watch."

"Just make sure you watch for enemies and don't just watch each other." Steve said, again with the shit eating grin.

"Fuck off, Rogers. Go sleep. Clearly you're delirious." Bucky said. Steve clapped him on the shoulder, the same familiar smile on his face.

"Good to have you back, buddy." he said. Bucky knocked his hand off his shoulder.

"Yea yea yea. Just wait until I get some food in me. Then I'll kick your ass for coming on your first mission by yourself." he said. He didn't give Steve time to reply, instead stepping over the sprawled out bodies on the ground and joining Lu at the rocks. Most of the camp had laid down to rest with a few of the guys up at a fire nearby, probably too nervous to sleep just yet. He could see Dugan's bowler hat, and Gabe's dark skin reflecting in the firelight, and maybe Morita with his makeshift med kit next to him. He took Lu's hand, leading her up. She moved as if her muscles were made of concrete.

"Where are we going?" she asked. He nodded towards the other guys.

"It's cold. You need to stay warm." he said.

"So do you." she said, though she still allowed him to pull her over to the fire. He gave her a furtive, conspiratory look.

"Well yea, but I have to look tough. You're my way out." he said. That made her laugh quietly, and this time she didn't end up coughing.

"You kids joining?" Dugan called as they got closer. Before they could answer the men started shifting, making sure that there was room for the two of them to sit next to each other. Lu thought to say that it wasn't necessary for them to be tied at the hip, but thought it might draw even more attention to their bond if she protested too much.

"For a minute, if you don't mind. We've got first watch." Bucky said, helping Lu down before joining her on the ground. He still held the rifle, handling it carefully and making sure the muzzle was pointed away from everyone, especially since he wasn't about to turn on the safety just yet. Morita found two cup-like things, filling them with water and handing them over.

"We're playing 'I've never'." he said. For a moment Bucky's blood ran cold, remembering how he and Lu had stayed alive playing drinking games - and how it had inflamed Mullens before he died. His tongue got stuck in his mouth, and luckily Lu was there to speak up for him.

"Seems like the point of the game is the opposite to what we want." she said, taking a sip of her water regardless. Morita shrugged, and from across the fire Gabe answered.

"We're following the rules very loosely." he said with a shrug. Bucky and Lu shared a look; perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad thing to allow a distraction. The men looked tired, but they kept their eyes up, playing the game with little fanfare and a few chuckles. Across the camp, Steve was asleep sitting up against a tree, his fists clenched in his sleep as if he thought he'd have to wake up fighting. Bucky decided to keep that in mind when it came time to switch.

For all her bravado, Lu was the first to lose to her exhaustion, her head and body leaning just right against Bucky so she didn't fall over. His back started to hurt after a while, but he endured the pain, wanting to give her this time to rest. One by one the men around the fire gave in until Bucky was the only one left, the camp quiet around him except for the steady hum of breathing and a few unintelligible mutters coming from places unseen. Soon the sounds around him and the warmth of the fire and Lu's body started to lull him; he could stay up later if he had to, but damn did he want to sleep. He shifted for the first time in a couple hours, his back popping and Lu waking up immediately, looking around for an emergency.

"Wha - Barnes?" she asked, her hand finding his and gripping tightly. He held it, and tenderly put his other hand on her cheek.

"Hey, you're okay. It's okay." he whispered as she took a few deep, noticeably clear breaths. The men closest to them snored and moved, but somehow stayed asleep. "I just gotta go wake up Steve. It's his turn."

She nodded, coming back to herself. "Come back?" she asked, for a moment sounding the most vulnerable that he'd ever heard her. His heart swelled, and he leaned a little closer, nuzzling her nose with his.

"Always." he whispered against her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed, and he moved to gently kiss her. Just like before, it was as easy and familiar as breathing. When he opened his eyes, her cheeks were flushed in the firelight, and she gave him such a tender look that his breath almost caught in his chest. He knew he loved her, but now he realized that he was in deep, past the point of any sort of return. He planted his lips on her forehead before going to wake Steve, wondering how in the hell he was going to go to sleep now.

Turns out, his body remembered how tired he was, and with his best friend standing guard and his best girl holding his hand, he was finally able to sleep.

Ah man, they're so cute! Sure they got a lot of PTSD they're gonna have to work through, but that doesn't change the fact that I love them.

I'm so sorry I didn't update last weekend, life kind of got ahead of me. And unfortunately I probably won't be able to update for at least one, maybe two weeks cause of traveling. But I do hope that y'all liked this chapter! Thank you so much for the positive reviews, they're seriously so amazing. I've kind of run out of ways to say thank you, but please know that I love and cherish every one.

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!

-XM